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Note: The following text is a quote: Three Convicted in International Truck Theft Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison HOUSTON—Three men who conspired to steal and transport millions of dollars of truck tractors, trailers and other heavy equipment to Central America have been sentenced to prison, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. Rito Jasso-Zorilla, 32, Victor Antonio Garcia, 27, and Orlando Gonzalez Huerta, 29, all citizens of Mexico, were sentenced by United States District Judge David Hittner this morning for their respective roles in assisting Yuri David Melendez, 42, of Houston, with the far-reaching scheme. Beginning in 2001, Melendez received requests...

...There was this old Buick, a big late 60’s road yacht, crammed into the back of the trailer. The man and wife inside were hurt although not terribly so. But behind them was the little Datsun pickup truck (remember those?) that had hit the Buick hard enough to shove it into my trailer. The two girls inside were badly injured. The driver’s forehead had been essentially peeled back and the flap of skin was hanging down over her face. I eased it back into place and held it there to slow her bleeding until an ambulance arrived. The other girl’s...

Ranking is based on the base model MSRP. You should be able to negotiate a lower price for the base model. Also, remember if you add additional features, you’ll could pay more. See list of cheapest trucks...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. business groups are growing increasingly frustrated with President Barack Obama's failure to resolve a cross-border trucking dispute with Mexico they say has threatened thousands of American jobs. "We've got companies that are really concerned," said Frank Vargo, vice president for international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers. "Our calculation is that we've got 15,000 jobs at risk and the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that Mexican buyers are shifting suppliers," Vargo said. U.S. manufacturers hold out hope Obama's meeting early next week in Guadalajara with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian...

As Ford looks to reinvent itself with smaller, energy efficient vehicles they are faced with the stark reality that as of late May their Ford F-150 series continues to outsell the Toyota Camry. Let that sink in for a moment. The best-selling truck in the U.S. still outsells the best-selling car, according to a report by the American Institute for Economic Research. New car sales have generally declined through the 1990's to the present, while truck sales rose precipitously from the 70s until just a few years ago. Annual car and truck sales are now virtually even. President Obama last...

BAGHDAD, June 22, 2009 – Iraqi troops in northeastern Baghdad have a new weapon in their arsenal, thanks to U.S. soldiers here. Army Spc. Carlos Smith works in Baghdad to unload one of five up-armored Ford F-350 trucks for the 11th Iraqi Army Division, June 19, 2009. U.S. soldiers spent 37 days and about 60 work hours per truck to complete and deliver the trucks. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Bailey Jester  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Soldiers from 115th “Muleskinner” Brigade Support Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team delivered five up-armored Ford F-350 trucks...

If you've got your eye on a new SUV, don't blink. It might be gone. Even with the auto industry mired in depression – sales are down nationally 36.5 percent – big vehicles such as the Ford Expedition and Chevy Tahoe are in tight supply because of drastic production cuts that automakers imposed last year as sales began to plummet. Now, a year after $4-a-gallon gas nearly killed SUVs, some dealers in this market are selling them for window-sticker prices. Moreover, most late-model used pickups and SUVs have regained all of the thousands of dollars in trade-in value they lost...

Trucking Headlines U.S.-Mexico trucking plan may resumeBy Jill Dunn The United States may allow Mexican trucks to do business here as early as June, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood reportedly said May 22. This spring, Congress ended the cross-border trucking program between the two countries. Mexico responded with 90 tariffs totaling $2.4 billion on U.S. products, casting a heavy burden on U.S. producers, LaHood said in a Bloomberg story. Candice Tolliver, the new communications director for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, did not immediately respond to questions. In recent weeks, the FMCSA began work with the U.S. Trade...

GENEVA (Reuters) – The prompt resolution of a 15-year old dispute over access to U.S. roads by Mexican trucks could be another casualty of the deadly swine flu outbreak, international trade experts said on Monday. Increased health checks to control the virus, which has killed 103 people in Mexico and infected at least 20 in the United States, could also slow the passage of goods across the busy but troubled U.S.-Mexico border, they said. The United States imported around $216 billion of goods from Mexico in 2008, making its southern neighbor its third-largest trading partner after Canada and China, according...

When people talk about alternative fuels, propane isn't usually the first topic that comes up. This is because they’ve probably never driven in a propane-powered vehicle, and for the past few decades have been bombarded with all kinds of talk about ethanol (E85), hydrogen and flux capacitors being the saviors of the human race. So you may be surprised to hear that propane is actually the third most commonly used motor vehicle fuel, ahead of all of those, compressed natural gas (CNG), and eye of newt. According to the U.S. Department of Energy there are even more places to buy...

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Mexico on Monday said it would place tariffs on nearly 90 US products after Washington canceled a program that allowed some trucks from Mexico to operate in the United States. There is to be an "increase in customs duty on almost 90 industrial and agricultural products," Economy Minister Gerardo Ruiz Mateos said in a statement. Ruiz said the increase would represent some 2.4 billion dollars, but did not name the products. . . . . . The move drew a sharp rebuke from US Senator John McCain, who said he regretted Mexico's decision and also lashed...

One day after signing the $410 billion omnibus funding bill into law, along with provisions ending the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck demonstration project, the Obama administration has announced intentions to restart the program as soon as possible.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration will try to reinvent a program to allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways. An 18-month pilot program that allowed a few Mexican trucks beyond a border buffer zone died when President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending bill yesterday. The bill barred spending on the program. Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said Obama has told the office to work with Congress, the Transportation and State departments and Mexican officials to come up with legislation to create “a new trucking project that will meet the legitimate...

KIRKLAND, Wash. - Kenworth truck reports its largest order for hybrid trucks. Kirkland-based Kenworth is a unit of Paccar. According to a company news release, Coca-Cola has ordered150 Kenworth T370 diesel-electric tractors and 35 Kenworth T370 hybrid trucks, all of which will be on the road this year. The Kenworth T370 tractors (rated at 55,000 lb. GCW) are the largest hybrid delivery truck on the road in North America. Kenworth says Coca-Cola plans to use the hybrid tractors in Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New Orleans, New York, San Antonio, San Francisco,...

SEMA is opposing an effort by some Washington lawmakers to include a national car crushing program in the upcoming economic stimulus package. Vehicles targeted for the scrap pile will likely include Chevy Blazers, Silverados, S-10s and Tahoes; Dodge Dakotas and Rams; Ford Explorers and F-Series; Jeep Cherokees and Wranglers; and any other SUV or truck that obtains less than 18 mpg.

E-ZPass users and operators of large trucks will pay more for the use of the state's toll facilities under a series of changes proposed by the Maryland Transportation Authority to offset declines in revenue and increases in the cost of maintenance, Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said today. Under the proposal given preliminary approval by the authority's board, users of the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system will be charged $1.50 a month for bill processing even if they don't use a toll facility during that month. New and replacement transponders -- the electronic devices placed in vehicles to record tolls...

Big is back: As pump prices plunge, SUV sales surgeBuyers with short memories when it comes to gas prices find hot deals on big vehicles. By Adrianne Jeffries | Special to the Daily Press December 30, 2008 NEWPORT NEWS - It looks like the Highlander is in and the Prius is out — for now at least. Trucks and sport utility vehicles will outsell cars for the first time since February, according to a December report by Edmunds.com, which tracks industry statistics. "Despite all the public discussion of fuel efficiency, SUVs and trucks are the industry's biggest sellers right now...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After nearly a year of flagging sales, low gas prices and fat incentives are reigniting America's taste for big vehicles. Trucks and SUVs will outsell cars in December, according to researchers at the automotive Website Edmunds.com, something that hasn't happened since February.

NY officials want older trucks fitted with emission-reducing equipment; cost put at $195M ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York is taking steps to reduce diesel emissions in its construction fleet. The Department of Environmental Conservation is floating proposed regulations requiring trucks made before 2007 to be fitted with emissions-reducing equipment and to use ultra-low-sulfur fuel by 2011. The new regulations would apply only to state-owned trucks or trucks used for state contract work. The DEC estimates it will cost $195 million to retrofit about 30,000 state trucks. The New York State

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's utilities, refineries and large factories must transform their operations to cut greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new climate plan before state regulators. On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board was expected to adopt what would be the nation's most sweeping global warming plan, outlining for the first time how individuals and businesses would meet a landmark 2006 law that made the state a leader on global climate change. It would hold California's worst polluters accountable for the heat-trapping emissions they produce _ transforming how people travel, utilities generate power and businesses use electricity. At...

MYFOXPhoenix.com/Arizona Dept. of Public Safety Arizona Department of Public Safety Detectives have confiscated about 2,118 pounds of marijuana from a truck that appeared identical to a United Parcel Service truck. A suspect fled the scene when an officer and narcotics canine attempted to stop the vehicle, according to MYFOXPhoenix.com. A search of the truck yielded nearly $1.2 million worth of marijuana bundles typically transported by

As the owner of a small dump truck business based in Dixon, I was trying to do my part to clean the air we all breathe by replacing my outdated truck with a cleaner model. Because the California Air Resources Board (ARB) is set to vote on a new regulation this December targeting diesel vehicles I wanted to be one step ahead. The proposed rule would impact the almost 1 million trucks and buses used to transport goods and people on California’s roads, highways and farms - including my dump trucks. Starting in 2010, this proposal would require every diesel...

Big business wants Mexican truckers delivering goods here in this country. Why? For the same reason it supports illegal immigration: Businesses don’t want to pay a decent wage to the American worker. This isn’t a conspiracy, but it has spawned a hydra-headed monster of conspiracy theories.Heard the one about the North American Union and that NAFTA Highway? Like all conspiracies, this one starts with a basis in fact then spirals off on a weird tangent, producing new twisted offshoots as it goes. The NAFTA Superhighway is just a network of existing roads that are approved for the Mexican Truck Pilot...

Pro Life Group to Roll Out Large Abortion PhotosBig trucks will carry displays in Winter Haven and in Lakeland. By Robin Williams Adams THE LEDGER Last Modified: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 8:40 p.m. WINTER HAVEN | Photographs of aborted human embryos and early stage fetuses - billboard sized and graphic - will circulate through downtown Winter Haven today and through downtown Lakeland on Friday. They're being displayed on a fleet of several large trucks to raise public awareness of abortion before the Nov. 4 election. "People would find it hard to miss us," said Mark Harrington, executive director of...

Having tolls removed from a major route in British Columbia, Canada, has taken some of the sting out of the cost of operating a trucking business in that province, but there’s still plenty of sting to go around. In late September, the government removed a $20 truck toll and $10 passenger vehicle toll from the Coquihalla Highway, which connects the city of Hope to Kamloops, B.C., in the Canadian West. Provincial officials said that truckers were pleased with the move, and they were. “Given the price of fuel, truckers are very happy with this,” Bridgitte Anderson, spokeswoman for British Columbia...

WASHINGTON – The House overwhelmingly voted to end the disputed cross-border trucking pilot project yesterday, raising the possibility that Congress could shut down the program before year's end. In a 395-18 vote, the House approved legislation to bar the U.S. Department of Transportation from granting authority to Mexican carriers to travel into the United States beyond a narrow commercial zone along the border. To become law, the bill would need to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Bush before the end of the year. Only last month, the administration announced plans to extend the program for two...

The Texas Department of Transportation is asking Nueces County residents to attend a public meeting in Driscoll to comment and provide input on proposed upgrades of US 77 to a controlled access facility that meets interstate standards. The purpose of the meetings is to review proposed options for upgrading US 77 and to present recommendations, TxDOT officials said. The first round public meetings were held in early March. This second round of public meetings is being held as part of TxDOT's continued effort to gain public input on issues related to proposed improvements and to provide an opportunity for public...

TEXARKANA — The company selected to design Interstate 69 has revealed plans to also implement the world’s first air rail freight system in the corridor, possibly starting in Texarkana, Texas. “You [Texarkana ] have railroads here, you already have an interstate, bringing I-69 is another interstate, you’ve got Oklahoma, you’ve got I-49,” said Gary Kuhn, senior project manager for Zachary American Infrastructure. “This is what the logistics world likes to see — that opportunity to go from one mode to another very efficiently.” In a presentation to the Wilbur Smith Rotary Club, Kuhn said the freight shuttle is a new...

WASHINGTON – A controversial one-year program allowing Mexican trucks to travel deep into the United States will be extended for two more years, federal officials announced Monday. John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said the extension would allow for the collection of more data to determine whether Mexican trucks can operate safely in the United States. Opponents quickly denounced the move, which some had been expecting despite their protests that the program poses a danger on U.S. highways. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, accused U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary...

Drivers who get safely off Interstate 35E after arriving in Dallas from Austin or San Antonio have a certain look of relief – like they just outran a buffalo stampede. Only on I-35, the stampede is trucks. The white-knuckle experience helps make the case for some kind of reliever road, even a tolled one. Making that same case has been a harder sell for U.S. highways along the Gulf Coast and East Texas. Drivers there can judge their own level of congestion, and they have insisted that their mostly rural corridor doesn't warrant the major undertaking of a parallel turnpike....

Every nation could be described as a manifestation of a unique trait of character and most countries furthermore nurture, give emphasize to and celebrate this national identity of theirs. Some examples of such key national characters (please DO comment if you feel inclined to); USA: Liberty Italy: Creativity France: Refinement India: Spirituality Germany: Self-discipline Finland: "Sisu" (a Finnish term meaning "To have guts") Britain: Elevatedness Denmark: "Hygge" (a Danish word meaning "Good-naturedness", of mind as well as of deed) Spain: Passion China: Cultivation Russia: Chaos - just joking, I would actually say "Heart" (in the sense of having a big...

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles. CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker's annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be closed are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico. He also said the iconic Hummer brand will be reviewed and potentially sold or revamped. Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a new small Chevrolet car at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in mid-2010 and the Chevy Volt electric...

McALLEN -- State senators on Tuesday ordered transportation officials to assess Texas' highway system and prioritize which regions are most in need of new roads. "We're expecting a full report, not some two-page letter," said state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. "You can't begin addressing the funding problems until you know when the roads are expected to come on line." The transportation committee, which met Tuesday morning at McAllen City Hall, has been at odds with the Texas Department of Transportation since earlier this year, when the agency announced the halt...

County commissioners reaffirmed their stance against the Trans-Texas Corridor, and they took another step toward keeping county government transparent when they met Tuesday. First up on the court's agenda, commissioners heard a presentation by Connie Fogle on behalf of the newly formed Pineywoods Sub-Regional Planning Commission. According to Fogle, the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 391, requires state agencies to coordinate with local commissions to "ensure effective and orderly implementation of state programs at the regional level." "Critical in the code is the word 'coordinate,'" she said. "This does not mean the commission has to cooperate. The intent is to...

Continuing a lifelong practice of helping rural East Texans, Nolan Alders attended a meeting in Austin Tuesday as a member of the citizens' advisory committee for the Trans-Texas Corridor highway project. Alders was among 18 representatives of communities that run along the route of the proposed highway, which runs from Laredo to Texarkana. The committee members prepared for their roles as community representatives, and heard comments from state transportation leaders, including Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director Amadeo Saenz and Commissioner Ted Houghton of the Texas Transportation Commission. TxDOT literature says the TTC-69 committee — and another committee to represent...

If only those were just hanging chads they were talking about on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon. Republican Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis proposed an amendment to a transportation bill that would have cracked down on an increasingly popular accoutrement on trucks: hanging sacks - dubbed “truck nutz” — that very realistically resemble male genitalia. His proposal is to make it a violation worthy of a $60 non-moving violation to have the testicular feature on your car, which are most commonly found hanging down from the trailer hitches of pickup trucks. It’s just like the state’s existing regulations against obscenity...

SH 130 Concession Company LLC finalized the legal details of a financial close with Texas DOT on a $1,360m toll concession to build SH130 segments 5&6 Thursday and Friday last week in bankers' offices in New York City - at Orrick, 666 Fifth Avenue. The actual money flows should occur on Thursday or Friday (Mar 13 or 14) this week, Jose Maria Lopez de Fuentes, president of Cintra North America, told us this morning. Hundreds of documents and over 20 lawyers were involved last week representing TxDOT, private equity people, banks, mostly European, the TIFIA loan group from FHWA, and...

After more than two decades, the ghost of the El Camino has finally risen from the grave, at least for U.S. drivers. It never actually went away in Australia. Now that the Pontiac G8 has ushered in a new era of affordable rear-wheel-drive performance at General Motors, the car-based pickup truck, or Ute as they are called Down Under, is coming back. Rumors have been flying for months about a G8 Ute and GM even showed the GMC Denali XT concept at the Chicago Auto Show last month – a four-door ute with a two-mode hybrid power-train that may or...

There's been a lot of talk about the new Trans-Texas Corridor — the next-generation "super-highway" — and opinions are varying. Now the debate is coming to Lufkin's doorstep. On Monday, the American Land Foundation, Stewards of the Range and TURF will hold a workshop at Lufkin's Pitser Garrison Civic Center on how to stop the Trans-Texas Corridor 69. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A portion of Texas citizens have voiced their opposition to the TTC-69 in public meetings held by the Texas Department of Transportation, but believing they are not being heard, four cities and their...

Mexican truck drivers allowed to travel throughout the U.S. under a Bush administration demonstration project may not be proficient in English, despite Department of Transportation assurances to the contrary. A brochure on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website instructs Mexican truck drivers, "Did you know … You MUST be able to read and speak English to drive trucks in the United States." Still, at the Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing Tuesday, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and DOT Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III reluctantly admitted under intense questioning from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that Mexican drivers were being...

Some Central Georgia truck drivers say they could face bankruptcy due to higher diesel fuel costs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this week's average price-per-gallon of diesel fuel in the Southeast is at $3.64. That's up 10 cents from last week and more than $1 from a year ago. "The days of truckers getting good long hauls and making good money are over with," said trucker Danny Ashley, a Laurens County native. "The price of diesel fuel is... eating us alive now." As a result, Ashley says he and others in the trucking industry around Central Georgia have...

The Nacogdoches County commissioners court voted Tuesday to support numerous community members who have recently turned out in droves opposing the proposed I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor by adopting a resolution against the project. The resolution is expected to be sent to the Texas Department of Transportation and to the governor's office. Precinct 4 Commissioner Tom Strickland said that it's apparent most people in Nacogdoches County approved of the original project — a standard Interstate roadway. But now most are opposed to the large TTC structure. 145th District Court Judge Campbell Cox II submitted a map that showed several oil and gas wells...

The FBI is investigating a Tennessee trucking company. Agents from the FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs and several other agencies searched the Swift Transportation trucking company in Memphis on Monday. Swift Transportation dispatches more than 500 trucks per day, transporting mainly for the United Parcel Service. Employees said agents seized computers but authorities have not released what they were looking for. "I haven't a clue,” said training driver James Richardson. “All I know is all of the training activities have been put on hold right now until an investigation is over...

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Tuesday approved the final elements of a clean air initiative aimed at reducing pollution from trucks hauling cargo through the Port of Long Beach. The commissioner voted unanimously to adopt several facets of the so-called clean trucks program, which looks to replace and modernize older-model trucks with ones that spew fewer harmful emissions. An after-hours call to the California Trucking Association was not immediately returned. The program sets up a system for identifying and monitoring the trucks that enter the port so they can be monitored for compliance with security, maintenance and...

TYLER - Heated debates are cropping up in rural East Texas communities as the Texas Department of Transportation hold hearings on the proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor. It's the first construction project of it's kind in the country. The Texas Department of Transportation says they want it to make room for a growing state. "A thousand people a day move to texas," says spokesman Larry Krantz,"where are these people going to drive? The population in Texas is going to explode by 60% in the year 2030." Their plans involve moving commercial trucks off existing interstate highways and onto one of two...

AUSTIN - When it comes to road improvement and maintenance, by most accounts, the South Plains and Panhandle are fortunate. Despite a $1.1 billion accounting error, the Texas Department of Transportation recently reported no projects in the region have been canceled or delayed while cities like Dallas, Houston and Laredo had at least a half dozen highway projects delayed. But the $1.1 billion-error, which occurred because TxDOT inadvertently counted some bond money twice and consequently allocated more funding than it had, is just the latest problem plaguing the beleaguered agency. For months, TxDOT executive director Amadeo Saenz and other transportation...

Trucks hauling everything from cars to produce use Southeast Texas roads to deliver their goods, and when a proposed Interstate 69/Trans Texas Corridor is completed, local drivers could see even more of them, local transportation officials said. The proposed I-69 corridor stretches from Michigan down to Texas. Once in Texas, the corridor goes about 650 miles from Texarkana to Brownsville and Laredo and includes separate lanes for cars and semis and areas for trains and utilities. It doesn't cut through Beaumont, but local arteries like U.S. 69 and Interstate 10 would connect to it. Travelers and truckers just need to...

Sometimes the truth just has a way of coming to light. A public information officer with the Texas Department of Transportation this week wrote a column in the Herald-Press describing the financial woes facing TxDOT and how because of those problems the state’s transportation department doesn’t have the money to deal with many of the state’s transportation issues. Apparently, several of the state’s senators do not feel that is the case at all. David Dewhurst called out the state’s interim chairwoman of the Texas Transportation Commission, Hope Andrade, on this very issue, according to a story from the Associated Press....

FoxNews is reporting

Teamsters are launching a nationwide campaign to fire U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters for what they say is her "unlawful decision" to keep the American border open to Mexican trucks. As WND reported, the Bush administration has decided to ignore a provision passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush as part of the 2008 omnibus spending bill that was intended to remove funding from the 2008 DOT appropriations bill for the Mexican truck demonstration project. It's a disgrace that Mary Peters is still in office," said Teamsters General President James Hoffa in a news release today....